


Lunch

by usabuns



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Dragon Ball Super/Resurrection F Verse, F/M, Family Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 17:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5099945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usabuns/pseuds/usabuns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes heart-to-hearts are best to have over meals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lunch

**Author's Note:**

> Well well well, this is what I wrote instead of updating 'After' today. Fear not, there will be 2 chapters up for that next week! As for this work, I hope you enjoy this little piece and as always, inform me of any typos!

Fixing up lunch for himself, Videl, and Pan had proved quite a taxing job; the end results, he was sure, would be worth all the time and effort he was putting into this. 

Videl (and, sometimes, Piccolo) usually made their meals, but once in a great while Gohan would force her to take a break so he could do it instead. Cooking had never really been his forte (thus why Videl made sure he avoided going near the kitchen during mealtime preparation), even though his own mother was the best cook he knew. Perhaps he had taken after his father. 

More often than not, the dishes he served turned out to be either burned, raw, or flat-out inedible in every way possible. This time, however, he had chosen to make sandwiches and lemonade. Even he couldn't screw that up. 

The chopping of cheese and fresh bread and butcher shop meats causes his taste buds to water, his nostrils to flare. He hums, contently, to no one except himself. Seven sandwiches; three for him, three for Pan, one for Videl. 'Saiyans,' his mother would say, sighing and rolling her eyes. His wife would, curiously enough, often sputter the same thing. 

Lemonade. How did you make that again? He slices lemons, one after one he squeezes them into a pitcher. Then comes the sugar, and, finally, the cool water from the sink splashes inside. 'Stir it,' his mother's voice scolds in his head. Gohan slaps his own forehead, nearly knocking the glasses off his face. A wooden spoon dives into the yellow liquid; he sloshes it around for a bit before gathering three plastic cups off the countertop. 

Carefully, Gohan balances a large tray stocked with their meal down through the endless halls of their house; honestly, he didn't know why it had to be so big, only the three (occasionally four) of them lived there. There were so many different rooms, with some of them being bigger than the entirety of his childhood home. 

His wife and daughter are playing in the courtyard of their home, where there's green grass and bright flowers and the sun always shines brightly onto the golden statue of Hercule. The sky, he observes, is cloudless and clear, like a blank artist's canvas. 

Videl's busied herself with picking all different kinds of flowers; she's got roses, carnations, dafodils, and azaleas among many others grasped tightly by the stems in her hands. The sundress she's wearing is a pure white color, and it flows into a bouncy tuft just above her knees. She's got a wide-brimmed sunhat on, which is in the same color. It makes her raven hair and piercing blue eyes look even more spectacular, like bright paint popping out on dull wall. 

Pan runs in circles around the yard with Bee on her tail, but the girl's too fast for the aging dog. She giggles and looks back now and again as Bee barks and pants happily. All his daughter seemed to wear these days was the gi her grandfather had gotten her; he had to admit that it made her look even cuter, somehow. Her hair's still short and cropped; it reminds him of Videl's when she had cut it way back in high school ("Do you prefer girls with short hair?" she had asked with a blush. The next time he saw her, she had chopped off her black locks into a pixie cut of sorts.)

Lucky. He was so lucky to have them. A little more determination in his step and a smile spreading across his face, Gohan patters onward across the stone paths that carve their way throughout the yard. He fumbles and nearly trips, but eventually he makes it to his wife's location. 

It's then that he announces in a sing-song voice, "I've got lunch, my two beautiful girls~" He's humming again, setting the tray down cautiously on the grass. The woman smiles up at him as he loops an arm around her waist, pulling her close. 

"It was awfully nice of you to make lunch for us, Gohan." She sets her bundle of flowers down, takes a bite of the sandwich, then nods her head. "Mmm...Amazing! You should be proud; something you made actually tastes good for once!" He gives a little 'hmmph' as she laughs the comment off, taking a sip of lemonade. 

He shrugs, gulping down some of his own drink in slight embarrassment. Gohan eats a full one of his sandwiches before looking up at his daughter, who's still playing in the grass. She's giggling, and he can see from here how many grass stains she's gotten on her clothes. In his trademark 'dad' tone, he calls out to her, "Pan! It's time for lunch, get over--"

"--Don't bother her, huh? She always has such fun playing with that dog...I'd hate to spoil her fun. She'll come eat when she's hungry." At this, the man raises an eyebrow. 

"I didn't think she liked Bee so much. In fact, I've never seen Pan playing with her before now..." His voice has gone slightly quieter as he ponders just what this crucial bit of information means. 

"Ah...I see why you're confused. She usually comes out with the dog during the afternoons, when you're not home yet. They really do love each other..." Videl looks fondly at the two, drinking the golden liquid as she brushes crumbs off her dress. 

For a moment, he contemplates this; he's silent for even longer. Only the sound of his chewing is heard for the next few minutes. How had he not even known about his own daughter's interests? Was he ever around much these days?

And then, "--Videl? I want you to be honest with me. Am I doing a good job? H-Have I...Have I failed as a father?" He sets his second sandwich (which is only half-eaten) down on the silver platter; he feels sick to his stomach. Gohan looks down, hands in his lap, and fiddles with his thumbs anxiously. 

"Gohan..." He shifts his gaze to his wife for a split-second; she refuses to meet his eyes. The rest of her sentence falls dead on her lips; silence clings onto the air between them. Only the sounds of wind and Pan's laughing can be heard now. 

"Do I work too much? Do I not spend enough time with you two?" The look in his eyes is shameful, but his tone of voice sounds frustrated. What he was feeling was hard to describe; it was something in between rage and failure. Videl doesn't respond; he hears her sip more of her lemonade quietly. 

Out of nowhere, she socks him in the arm, as hard as she can (which, Gohan notes, is not very hard; at least, since he's a Saiyan it's not). Gasping, he turns to look at her, only to see that she's got a frown on her face and her arms crossed adamantly. 

"You know, for such a smart man, you sure say the stupidest things sometimes." A good-natured smile creeps onto her face as she pulls him close. His eyes go wide; he sucks in a breath and holds it there. 

She continues, "You work hard to provide for us, Gohan. You make me so proud. Not being here a lot doesn't make you anything less than an amazing father. Besides, when you are here, you're making Pan and me happy, and that's all that counts." 

Only one tear is shed from his eye that day, as he pulls her into a tight embrace with a warm, loving smile on his face. "I love you, Videl." And all she does is squeeze him in her arms and bury her head in his chest.


End file.
